


The Chef-Knight

by TooGoodToBeBad



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem)-centric, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Garreg Mach Monastery (Fire Emblem), Garreg Mach Officers' Academy (Fire Emblem), Mentioned Blue Lions Students (Fire Emblem), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooGoodToBeBad/pseuds/TooGoodToBeBad
Summary: He looked at her quizzically, furrowing his brow. “His backstory is nothing to laugh about. It’s deeply tragic.”“I’m not laughing at the story. It’s just… the drawing. It looks like you, doesn’t it?”He turned his gaze to the drawing on the page and frowned. “I don’t think so. Maybe if you were reading in the dark without a candle, then you could-”“He does!” Ingrid laughed. “Look, he’s got the grey hair and green eyes. He just needs freckles and he’d look exactly like you!”“Not true. Lots of people have grey hair and green eyes.”Ashe and Ingrid are excited to read a new story, but things get interesting when they realize the characters look a little familiar.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Ingrid Brandl Galatea
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	The Chef-Knight

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, I had a bit of trouble putting all of this together, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> \- The italicized text is not supposed to represent what the book actually says, it's just a basic summary kind of thing, I didn't want to write a whole other story within this one
> 
> \- Feedback is appreciated since I struggled a bit with this.

Ashe’s green eyes widened with curiosity as he pulled the book from the shelf. The cover was pretty nondescript, as the book was bound in simple leather, and it was bare save for the title, but the title was more than enough to pique his interest. “The Chef-Knight?” he whispered to himself.

“Hey, Ingrid?” he called out to his friend, who was eagerly searching for a book of her own a few shelves away. “Have you ever heard of the story _The Chef-Knight_?” 

She scoffed a little at that. “ _The Chef-Knight_? Sounds sort of silly for a knight story.”

He turned a few pages and found that the book had several beautiful illustrations within its pages. A big grin was plastered on his face as he flipped through it and found even more amazing and vibrantly colored drawings throughout. “It’s got some terrific art, though.”

Now he had her attention.

She cocked her head towards him, and he turned the book in his hands so she could see the artwork within. Her green eyes twinkled with curiosity. “You’re right, that’s beautiful,” she whispered as she made her way to him. “Let me read it!”

“Now now, you said it was silly,” he teased. “Plus, I found it first.”

She rolled her eyes at that, but Ashe could see that she was still smiling. “Don’t be selfish. Can we read it together?”

“Sure! That way we can talk about it once we’ve finished.”

The duo quickly found an empty table, and Ashe reverently placed the book on its surface. They quickly sat down beside each other (the optimal seating arrangement when sharing a book), and began reading. 

_The titular character, the Chef-Knight, had a deeply tragic backstory. His family owned a simple inn when they were younger, but one day, they were attacked by bandits while he was out running errands. The inn was burned to the ground, and when he returned, he was stricken with grief and knelt among the ashes and cried. An old noble who used to frequent the inn found him, took him under his wing, and-_

Ingrid let out a tiny chuckle beside him.

“Are you alright, Ingrid?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m just reading the book.”

“Why’d you laugh, then?” He looked at her quizzically, furrowing his brow. “His backstory is nothing to laugh about. It’s deeply tragic.”

“I’m not laughing at the story. It’s just… the drawing. It looks like you, doesn’t it?”

He turned his gaze to the drawing on the page and frowned. “I don’t think so. Maybe if you were reading in the dark without a candle, then you could-”

“He does!” Ingrid laughed. “Look, he’s got the grey hair and green eyes. He just needs freckles and he’d look exactly like you!”

“Not true. Lots of people have grey hair and green eyes.”

As they argued over whether or not the knight looked like him, Ashe felt a friendly hand clap him on the shoulder. He turned to find Sylvain, who had a nasty habit of turning up when you least expected him, peering over their shoulders.

“Hey, how are my favorite nerds doing?” he smiled lazily as he placed a hand on Ingrid’s shoulder, which she quickly pushed off.

“You’re interrupting our reading, Sylvain,” Ingrid grumbled without looking at him.

“Didn’t sound like you guys were reading. Was Ashe reading you a st- Hey! That guy looks just like him!”

“See!” she playfully shoved her seatmate. “Even Sylvain says so!”

He felt his face heat up at that and let out an indignant huff. “I still don’t see it. Besides, when did you start agreeing with Sylvain?”

Sylvain laughed at that and tousled Ashe’s hair. “Don’t take it the wrong way, Ashe. If there was a drawing in a book that looked like me, you’d never hear the end of it, especially if it’s one of those romance stories where the hero-”

Ingrid elbowed him in the stomach. “Go bother Felix. We’re reading here.”

“You know, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” And just like that, Sylvain was out of their hair.

They quickly returned to reading, and the duo soon lost themselves in the story of the Chef-Knight. They eagerly flipped through the pages, absorbing all the details and occasionally letting out little gasps of excitement whenever a particularly pretty drawing came up. Whoever did the drawings did a really great job at bringing the story to life.

_The Chef-Knight was able to train for knighthood, and he found himself in the employ of an honorable king. While on his travels, he heard of a kind, beautiful, and intelligent woman called the Pegasus Maiden. He embarked on a quest to find her to see if the legends about her were true and to ask her to marry him. But on his way there, he found himself ambushed by bandits, only to be rescued by the Pegasus Maiden herself, and-_

"Hey, the Pegasus Maiden looks just like you!" Ashe's eyes widened and he turned to his seatmate.

He could see her cheeks redden a bit. "No, the Pegasus Maiden does not look like me."

"But look! She's got green eyes and blonde hair, just like you! It might not be in the same style, but I'm sure if you wore your hair like that, you'd look exactly like her!" he exclaimed excitedly.

“I do not look like that, Ashe!” she shook her head defiantly. “You’re just saying that because I said you look like the Chef-Knight.”

“Maybe we should ask Sylvain what he thinks,” Ashe chuckled.

Ingrid let out an unladylike scoff. “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree here, Chef-Knight.”

“I guess we will, Pegasus Maiden.”

As they returned to reading, Ashe became acutely aware of several things, such as the closeness between the two of them, the sound of her breathing, and the way the air around her seemed to smell like pines. He found his gaze drawn to the little Pegasus Maiden on the page before him. She really looked like Ingrid, down to the posture, and he had half a mind to ask Ingrid to try wearing her hair in a bun just to see if she’d look just exactly like the character.

He’d never admit it to anyone, but the drawings were giving him all sorts of ideas (all chaste ideas, mind you). It was so easy to imagine himself as the Chef-Knight, trying to win the heart of the beautiful and fierce Pegasus Maiden (who he was absolutely certain bore a striking resemblance to his reading partner; there was no doubt that if he asked for a third opinion, they’d agree with him). He could see it now: he’d win her heart with his chivalry and honor, and if this book was anything like any other knight story he’d read, he was going to like how it ended.

He’d instantly been smitten by her when he first laid eyes on her, and when he found out they both loved stories of knights and chivalry, he knew he’d fallen hard. Unfortunately, he was left to tread these dangerous waters on his own. 

Sylvain could only be used as an example of what _not_ to do, Dimitri had no advice to give, Felix seemed to love swords more than people, and Dedue was Dedue. Ashe’s only other confidant was Caspar, but he was also pretty stupid when it came to matters involving girls. 

Ashe closed his eyes and shook his head to try and clear his mind; he was supposed to be reading. He barely had time to react as she began to turn to the next page.

“Wait! I’m not done with the page yet!” he blurted out a bit too loudly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, just give me a few more seconds.”

The corners of her mouth turned up in a tiny smirk. “Were you staring at the Pegasus Maiden?”

“N-no, I wouldn’t say 'staring,'” he mumbled, hoping that the heat starting to rise in his cheeks would die down soon. “I don’t know how you can’t see it, but she really reminds me of you.” 

She turned her gaze from him, and in the candlelight it almost looked like she was blushing. Or maybe she was - Ashe couldn’t really tell. “Nuh-uh.”

“But look at her! She’s so _bea_ … brave! And bold!” Now he was internally kicking himself for nearly putting his foot in his mouth. “Plus, you know, the whole pegasus thing.” _Good save_ , he thought. 

“Well fine,” she puffed and pointed to another drawing, this time of the knight. “I guess that makes you the dashing Chef-Knight.”

“Did the book say he was dashing?”

“I’m pretty sure it did, Ashe.”

He was pretty sure it didn’t, but he held his tongue lest they start a fight in the library and got banned forever. “Maybe we should just look for another book. Maybe one without drawings?” he suggested.

“But I’m kind of curious to see how this one ends. It’s not as silly as I thought it would be,” she replied. “Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I wanna know how this goes too.”

“Then let's finish this story," she gave him a warm smile, and he found himself unable to speak, so he nodded at that.

_And so after the Pegasus Maiden rescued the Chef-Knight, he asked her what it would take for her to marry him. She said he would have to be a truly special man, since she was already a greater warrior than most knights. The Chef-Knight travelled far and wide, looking for a way to win her heart. He met a wise man, who told him to look within himself for the answer. And so the Chef-Knight decided to cook the Pegasus Maiden the best meal of her life, and-_

“Wait, she’s gonna marry him because he cooked dinner for her?” Ingrid blurted out in disbelief.

“Maybe she’ll hate his cooking and stab him with a sword,” Ashe shrugged. 

Ingrid let out a chuckle. “Or maybe it’s poisoned.”

“Maybe it’ll be so bad she’ll marry him if he promises to never cook for her again!” Now both of them were openly giggling (much to the chagrin of the others in the library), and Ashe was startled to find out how much he enjoyed the sound of her laughing. It was a soft and gentle sound, which was so different from the rest of her that he couldn’t help but be intrigued by it.

_As it turned out, the Pegasus Maiden was so amazed by his cooking that she agreed to marry him if he would always cook meals for her for the two of them to share. He picked her up in his arms, and-_

“Is that really how it ends?” Ashe asked out loud.

“Well, there’s only a couple more pages left, so I think so?” Ingrid turned to him. “But I kind of like that ending. It’s not traditional or anything like that, but it’s a nice twist. Sometimes, strength and power isn’t the only quality that a knight needs.”

“I guess you’re right,” Ashe smiled. “Knights should always have passion, not just for battle.” 

She grinned at him, but the smile quickly disappeared once Sylvain reappeared. "What do you want?"

He shrugged and ran his fingers through his red hair. "Felix told me to bug you instead. He had some _very choice_ words for me, which I will not repeat in the presence of our dear Ashe. I'd hate to be seen as a bad example."

Ashe had to laugh at that, and even though Ingrid was rolling her eyes, she was covering her mouth with her hand and trying not to laugh. 

“Is that still the book with Ashe?” Sylvain asked.

“Yep, we’re almost at the end,” Ingrid chuckled.

“I still think it doesn’t look like me,” Ashe muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

“Don’t fret Ashe, it’s-” Sylvain’s eyes widened in disbelief and his normally coy smirk grew into a big goofy grin. “No way, is that Ingrid?”

Ashe shot her his best _I told you so_ glance, and she rolled her eyes again. 

“It’s totally you! She’s got the pegasus and everything!” Sylvain continued excitedly.

“That’s what I said!” Ashe beamed at the vindication. 

The book was lifted from the table as Sylvain reached over them and picked it up. “And she’s gonna marry this guy because he can cook well? That’s definitely Ingrid. Cooking a meal to win a girl’s heart? That’s Ashe.” 

“Give it back, Sylvain. We’re not done reading yet,” Ingrid turned her head to give him the sourest look she could muster.

He gave an insincere pout and returned the book before raising his arms in surrender. “Did you guys write this book together? That is so cute. Maybe I should try that if I wanna woo any pretty bookworms. You’ve got some moves, Ashe.”

“M-moves?” Ashe stuttered and blinked his eyes in disbelief. “I-I-I don’t have any moves! I’m not doing moves on Ingrid!” 

He felt the heat returning to his cheeks, and now it was spreading to the tips of his ears, and even to his freckles. Worst of all, he could feel the unease in his chest, and his heart sank like an anchor into the pit of his stomach.

He looked over to Ingrid, and her face was rapidly reddening as well, although he wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. Given the circumstances, probably anger.

“Sylvain, if you don’t shut up-”

“What, will you and Ashe put me in your next bo- _ow_! Fine, I’ll stop! No need to step on my foot again, damn.”

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Ingrid returned her gaze to Ashe. “Let’s finish this book, yeah?”

They probably should have waited for Sylvain to leave before turning the page.

Now he was openly howling with laughter, and not without reason. Emblazoned on the next page was a very vivid illustration of the Chef-Knight and the Pegasus Maiden. Kissing. 

There was no hiding it now; Ashe was beet red, all the way up to his ears. He buried his face in his hands to try to save himself some dignity. What was supposed to be a simple afternoon of reading was rapidly turning into an embarrassment. He didn’t even want to look at her.

A hand grabbed his arm and started to lead him away. “Let’s go, Ashe,” Ingrid said softly. He simply stared at his feet and let himself be led from the library, all while Sylvain hadn’t stopped laughing. “Wait, guys! There’s drawings of their kids! Don’t you wanna see?”

The two of them walked in silence, and while Ashe was certainly unhappy with the circumstances leading up to it, he enjoyed her touch, even if it was to lead him away from embarrassment. He could feel his face cooling down and his words returning to him. “Hey, Ingrid?” he sheepishly called out.

She turned back to him and quickly let go of his arm. “Oh, I didn’t realize I was still holding you.”

“Oh no, it’s not that,” he began. “It’s just… I’m sorry about the book. I should’ve picked something else.”

Her eyes roamed his face with a curious look. “Why would you be sorry? I loved the story. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. For Sylvain, I mean. But I’ll make sure he apologizes to you too.”

He shifted uneasily. “I just thought that maybe if I picked a different book, maybe one without pictures, there wouldn’t have been so much teasing.”

She blinked at that and then began to laugh. “Oh, I don’t let Sylvain get to me like that. He’s a clown nearly all the time, but I’m used to him,” she met his gaze, and her expression softened. 

“But I did want to leave for your sake. You were so red back there, I thought you would faint or something. You’re not used to Sylvain, and I guess I just wanted to protect you,” she broke his gaze and started staring at her boots.

He was turning red again. “Thank you, Ingrid. I don’t know what I would have done without you back there,” he offered a shy smile. “I guess you really are like the Pegasus Maiden.”

She smiled back. “Only if you’re the Chef-Knight.”

Now Ashe wasn’t sure if she was blushing or if the light of the setting sun turned everyone’s skin a shade of red. Unsure of what else to say, he let the compliment hang in the air. 

“You know,” she started, “we don’t have to bring up this story ever again if you don’t want to. Next time we can find a new story that we’ll both enjoy.”

“I don’t want you to think I hated that story. I liked it too,” he replied. “We can definitely discuss it, maybe just without a... third opinion. But the next time we find a book, I’ll be sure to check the drawings.”

She chuckled at that. “Sounds like a plan.”

“And maybe next time, how about I cook a meal for you?” he tried to put on a confident smile.

She raised an eyebrow before giving him a warm smile. “Sure, I’d like that a lot. But that’s for next time. For now, would you like to maybe join me for dinner in the dining hall?”

His green eyes widened and he tried his best to not grin like a fool. “Sure, I’d like that a lot.”


End file.
